It is most probable that a population of German race and language had been allowed to settle on the eastern shores of Britain long before the close of the Roman dominion; and that, encouraged by the unwarlike spirit of the natives, and the confusion attendant on the withdrawal of the Roman legions, others of the same restless, enterprising race had possessed themselves of a considerable part of England, even before the date usually given as that at which a Saxon people entered England.

A few years after the withdrawal of the Romans, England was divided among a multitude of petty chieftains, principally of British but partly of Roman origin; one of the principal of these kings, as they called themselves, was Vortigern. He was at war with others of the chiefs, and to aid him in his quarrel he called in the assistance of the Saxons. It is said that, at that time, a Saxon squadron was in the channel, commanded by Hengist and Horsa, two brothers of great renown as warriors. They eagerly accepted the invitation of the British prince, and as a reward for their services against the Picts and Scots, they received the Isle of Thanet, and there settled with their comrades in 449 A.D. This was the foundation of the Saxon kingdom of Kent.

In 477 A.D. the coast of Sussex was occupied by another body of Saxons under Ella, who founded the kingdom of the South-Saxons. In 495 A.D. Saxons settling in Hampshire founded the kingdom of Wessex, in 530 A.D. the kingdom of Essex, and about the same time Norfolk and Suffolk were occupied, and the kingdom of East-Anglia founded; and in 547 a.d.

the kingdom of Northumbria, which extended from the Humber along the east coast of Scotland.

It is not to be imagined that the Saxons were thus allowed to settle peaceably; long and bloody wars took place between the Britons and heathen Saxons, and it was not till two hundred years after their first landing under Hengist and Horsa that the greater part of England was reduced to subjection. The struggle was longest maintained in the west of England, where the brave deeds of the fabulous King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are said to have been performed.

Those of the Britons who would not submit to the Saxons fled to Wales and Brittany; those who submitted seem to have been made serfs or slaves by their conquerors.

The invasion of the Saxons almost destroyed the Christianity of England. The Saxons were heathens, worshipping Odin and Thor, and other deities common to the Teutonic race. They were the determined opponents of Christianity; but about the year 597, Augustine, an Italian monk, was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory, to attempt the conversion of the Saxons. He was kindly received by Ethelbert, King of Kent, who had married a Christian princess, and she now induced her husband to listen to the teaching of Augustine and become a Christian. His example was followed by the chiefs and people of Kent; and Augustine founded a church and monastery at Canterbury, which thus became the principal church in the kingdom.

Gradually the influence of Christianity extended

throughout the other Saxon tribes and kingdoms; and though, for a long time, they retained many of their heathen superstitions and practices, all England became nominally Christian.

About the year 700 A.D. we find that England was divided into seven or eight kingdoms, called collectively the Saxon heptarchy. These kingdoms were: Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Northumbria, East, Anglia, and Mercia. Though all independent, they were sometimes united under the authority of one of their monarchs, who had the title of Bretwalda. They were, however, very often at war with each other; the more powerful states gradually encroached upon and absorbed the weaker, till, about the year 800 A.D. three great states divided the country. These were Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. The first extended from the Firth of Forth to the Humber, including the six northern counties of England; the second occupied the centre of the country, and the third the south.

The kingdom of the West-Saxons was the most powerful of these three, and its king, Egbert, in 827, extended the authority of Wessex over the other two kingdoms, and became the first Saxon ruler of the whole of England. He had been educated at the court of Charlemagne, in France, and had there acquired skill in the arts of war and government.

No sooner, however, did England, for the first time during some centuries, enjoy internal peace under the wise rule of Egbert, than a terrible foreign enemy appeared in the Danes, or Northmen. These, like the Saxons of old, were pirates, and spent their lives on

the waves, despising peaceful pursuits, and subsisting by plunder and rapine.

Till the eighth century, the sea-kings, as the chief of these adventurers were called, had confined themselves to the northern seas; but now they descended in swarms to the south, and ravaged the coasts of England and France.

Egbert's last exploit was the defeat of a great Danish army on the coast of Cornwall.

CHAP. IV.

KING ALFRED TO EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.

KING ALFRED was the grandson of Egbert, and was born in 849. In his youth he was sent to Rome, where he was crowned by the Pontiff. Alfred's mother, Osburga, awakened in his mind that love of learning for which he was distinguished. He was chosen king in 871, and at his accession he found the Danes in possession of the fairest and largest part of England. The Saxons seemed to be gradually retreating to the west, just as their fathers had compelled the conquered Britons to do. But Alfred, by his valour and prudence, restored the Saxon fortunes. At first he was unsuccessful, and suffered repeated defeats. The heathen Danes, inflamed with fury against the Christians, destroyed the monasteries and churches, and put the priests, monks, and nuns to the most cruel deaths. Alfred, dismayed by the Danish suc

C

cesses, retired for a time, and hid himself in the Isle of Athelney in a swineherd's hut. But soon, issuing from his retreat, he defeated the armies of Gothrun and Hubba, and captured the sacred banner in which the Danes trusted. He also equipped a large fleet, and successfully met the Danes on their own element. Gradually they retired to their ships or laid down their arms, and embracing Christianity settled on the coast of Northumbria, where already many of their countrymen had fixed their homes.

Alfred had now freed his country from foreign enemies, and had time to turn his attention to the internal government of England. The long contest with the Danes had disorganised society, and learning was almost extinct. The king restored the old laws, with many improvements, more suited to the time and the habits of his subjects. These laws he strictly enforced, by personal superintendence over the judges, from whom he allowed appeals to himself. His decisions were just, and without respect to rich or poor.

To restore learning, he invited to his court the most distinguished scholars of his own and of foreign countries. It was his intention, he said, that the children of every free man, whose circumstances would allow it, should learn to read and write.

Although so busy with the affairs of state, the King applied himself to study. He learnt Latin, that he might translate useful works in science and philosophy into English. He translated Bede's "Ecclesiastical History," and "The Consolation of Philosophy," by Boethius, a book held in high estimation in that age. He erected palaces and public buildings in his capital,